Constant car problems can be a huge difficulty in life, which is why having a reliable vehicle is so important.

What would you do if your parents helped you buy a car and just asked that you repay them at 0% interest, but the car they picked ended up having tons of problems?

That is what happened to the son in this story, so he traded the vehicle in for something different, and now his parents feel betrayed.

AITA for trading in a vehicle that my parents got me while I’m making payments to them.

A few months ago, my mercury mariner was on its last legs, I’d been dumping at least $400 into repairs every month or two and couldn’t afford to lose it, have it break down on me or finance a car on my own to replace it.

That is nice of them.

Unbeknownst to me, my parents, who were aware of the situation started looking for a replacement.

Once a suitable replacement had been found they told me they would pay for it, and in turn I’d make payments to them.

Sounds like a great deal to me.

$10K at 0% financing. I agreed under the conditions they would have the car looked at and no major issues were found.

They had “someone” look at it, and test drive it, and I settled on their deal.

Ouch, that is some bad luck.

Fast forward a few weeks, I’m driving the car 800 miles back home and upon arrival the CEL (check engine light) comes on, it’s the catalytic converter.

After a $2k repair I’m back on the road, only to have the light come on again.

It sounds like this is an unreliable car.

I decided to have 2 shops take a look. My main shop looked at EVERYTHING and told me to get out of it if I could. CVT was not good, and we didn’t know when it would give out, but it would sooner than later.

I went to the Honda dealership to get an oil change and they really wanted my car, telling me they had people looking for my model.

Hey, this works out well.

I advised them on the issues and that I owed my parents but because there was no lien on the title they had no problem making me an offer.

I got 10k for my trade in, exactly what I owed for it in the first place.

My parents were made aware of the issues with the car before I traded it in, but I didn’t know how to tell them, and figured when I see them in November I’d break the news, in person not over the phone.

Hopefully his parents understand.

Then today happens, my father asked me how the car was, and being honest I told him what I did, making sure to tell him this was not the plan, but that I couldn’t afford to be in the same situation as my last car with costly repairs out of nowhere.

I told him that I still intend on making my payments as agreed. But he made it sound like I had no right to sell or trade it since I owed them.

I mean, it is just a different car. The payments don’t change anything.

So was I wrong? Or am I in the right for ensuring that I have reliable transportation so I can get to work and make my payments as agreed?

AITA?

I think he should have told his parents ahead of time, but honestly it shouldn’t make any difference to them.

Let’s see what the people in the comments have to say about it.

Hopefully the new car will be better.

This commenter says he should have paid off the parents immediately.

It was his car, he can do what he wants with it.

Here is someone who says he just needs to keep up his payments.

This commenter says it shouldn’t be a problem.

Mixing family and money can cause drama.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.